No. 9/11 Florida Gators basketball (11-2, 1-0 SEC) throttled the Georgia Bulldogs (6-8, 0-1 SEC) on Wednesday night in Gainesville, FL. Florida head coach Billy Donovan met with the media and shared some of his thoughts after the game.

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Florida is 107-97 all-time against Georgia and boasts the most victories against this rival than any other team. The Gators hold a 24-8 record against the Bulldogs since Donovan took over the program and are 14-2 in that span while playing in the O’Dome.
» UF is 16-3 over the last 19 games against UGA with 11-straight wins at home.
» Florida is 12-5 in SEC openers under Donovan and 15-2 in SEC home openers.
» The Gators have now held seven of 12 opponents under 50 points.
» Florida registered a season-high 17 assists on 29 made baskets.
» The Gators scored 27 points off 19 Bulldogs turnovers.
» Florida scored more points in the second half (49) than Georgia did in the game (44).
» The Gators’ 33-point victory was the second-largest margin ever between the teams.
» Florida hit a season-high 12 three-pointers in the game.
» 3,200 UF students were in attendance, the highest total in the last seven years.

PLAYER NOTES

» Redshirt senior guard Mike Rosario continued his outstanding season with a team-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting (3-of-6 from downtown). He also went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe but did not record another statistic in the game aside from one steal.
» Junior forward Casey Prather stepped into the starting lineup as an injury replacement and scored the first six points of the game for his team. Prather finished with 10 points along with team-highs of seven rebounds and three steals.
» Junior center Patric Young was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor for 11 points. He also registered two assists, three rebounds and a team-high four blocks.
» Playing with a broken rib, junior F Erik Murphy hit 3-of-6 treys for 11 points.
» Junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin went 2-for-4 from downtown for eight points and also chipped in a team-high six assists.
» Senior G Kenny Boynton had an off shooting night but entered the top-10 in school history in made field goals with his first basket. He also moved up to fourth in career starts (118) and fifth in minutes played (3,911).

Read what Donovan had to say and see much more…after the break!
Continue Reading » 1/9: Florida vs. Georgia post-game report

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Dave Werner, Erik Murphy, Georgia Bulldogs, Jacob Kurtz, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, SEC, Will Yeguete

No. 10 Florida Gators basketball (1-0) thrashed the Alabama State Hornets (0-1) at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL on Saturday. Florida head coach Billy Donovan met with the media and shared some of his thoughts after the game.

HISTORY / STREAKS / STATS

» Florida has won 22-straight season openers (17 under Donovan) dating back to 1991.
» UF limited Alabama State to just nine first-half points is the fewest allowed to a team in a single half in the shot clock era.
» The Gators’ 50 rebounds were the most the team has grabbed in nearly three years.
» Florida’s 22-0 run blew the game wide open and was part of a dominant first half that put the game completely out of reach for Alabama State.
» The Gators had 18 assists on 28 made baskets.

PLAYER NOTES

» Every player that dressed scored, including sophomore walk-on Jacob Kurtz
» Senior guard Kenny Boynton led the way with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Playing point guard, he went 4-for-4 from downtown and added five assists and six rebounds. He also became the eighth player in school history to eclipse the 1,600-point plateau and is climbing the ladder.
» Junior center Patric Young was a great complimentary piece to Boynton. He notched the fifth double-double of his career with 12 points and a game-high (and career-high-tying) 12 rebounds.
» Redshirt senior G Mike Rosario and senior forward Erik Murphy also scored in double figures, posting 14 and 15 points, respectively.
» Junior F Will Yeguete once again proved that he is a do-everything player, adding seven boards and five assists to go along with three points.

INJURY / ABSENCE UPDATES

Junior G/F Casey Prather sat for his second-straight game with a concussion, having suffered one in each of the last two weeks. Donovan said he does not expect him back any time soon and noted that he could miss at least 1-2 more weeks of games.

“Prather, right now from what I’m gathering, is at least another week. I have no expectation of him coming back for both of these games coming up, Wisconsin and Middle Tennessee,” he said. “I think Middle Tennessee would probably be a stretch. He’s still having symptoms right now. He’s still having headaches, those kinds of things. With him having a concussion previously and this second one not being so far removed from the first one, I can just sense from the doctors and the people here on staff medically that this is going to be a process before he gets back on the floor. I would not be surprised if it’s another two weeks.”

Addressing the suspension of junior point guard Scottie Wilbekin, who has also missed the first two games, Donovan said he has not spoken to him about his undisclosed situation but does not expect him to play this week either. “As of right now, I am not playing him against Wisconsin, unless some of the things that I’m able to find out this week can change. I would say that, right now, as of [Sunday], he will not play against Wisconsin,” he noted.

Though Donovan has neither stated the reason for Wilbekin’s suspension nor a specific length of time that he will remain away from the team, a note on Florida’s official website had the suspension listed as four games. After OGGOA tweeted that note referencing the website, it was removed from the story in which it was posted.

Read the rest of what Donovan had to say…after the break!
Continue Reading » 11/10: Florida vs. Alabama State post-game

Tags: Billy Donovan, Casey Prather, Erik Murphy, Jacob Kurtz, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, Patric Young, Scottie Wilbekin, Will Yeguete

It was clobbering time at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, FL on Monday evening as the newly minted No. 11/12 Florida Gators (9-2) topped the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (1-9) 82-54.

Coming off an unexpectedly easy victory 84-64 against then-No. 22 Texas A&M on Saturday, Florida kept their focus in order to avoid a significant upset. The Gators responded to the challenge with all five starters scoring in double figures and combining to go 10-for-18 from downtown.

Florida opened the contest shooting as well as they have all season, hitting their first eight shots and 10-of-11 to take an early 21-4 lead. The Gators increased their advantage to 20 points minutes later when junior guard Kenny Boynton connected on his second triple and fourth basket of the game in under seven minutes.

After taking a 24-point lead just nine minutes into the game, Florida went on a bit of a scoring drought, allowing Mississippi Valley State to close their gap by five points in just over seven minutes. A trey by Boynton with 2:55 remaining gave the Gators their 24-point advantage back, one they would maintain through the end of the half.

Click to expand and read the rest of the game story.

Tags: Bradley Beal, Cody Larson, Erik Murphy, Erving Walker, Jacob Kurtz, Kenny Boynton, Mike Rosario, Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, O'Connell Center, Patric Young, Walter Pitchford